John McCain, the probable Republican presidential nominee, has been forced to deny having an affair eight years ago with a lobbyist whose clients had business with the senate committee that he chaired.A report in the New York Times claimed that aides to the 71-year-old Arizona senator were so worried by the amount of contact he had with Vicki Iseman, 40, that she was asked to stay away from him. Ms Iseman also denied any romantic relationship. The report could possibly delay John McCain’s assumption of the Republican nomination
Senator McCain followed up with “Let me make this perfectly clear. I have never had sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lew… I mean Ms. Iseman”. The Senator also pointed out that sex with a condom isn’t really sex because there is no skin contact, that oral sex isn’t sex at all, and that he didn’t inhale (he just kinda threw that one in).
Comment from: atomictesting [Member]
I’m no fan of McCain, but this whole “story” seems to be fabricated. No direct accusations have been made, no proof has been offered.
It does seem to be somewhat difficult to prove that senator mccain was unduly influenced by one of his lobbyists (who is also, coincidentally, being accused of sexual improprieties with the same lobbyist), and may have inappropriately abused the powers of the senate committees he was on in favor of that lobbyist. It usually is hard to prove that sort of thing. But that is the issue at hand, more so than where mccain’s little soldier has been barracking.
Unless there’s a stained blue dress hanging in a closet somewhere, I’ll take this to be a smear. If you’re going to attack the man, attack him on his politics. There are plenty of good reasons an atheist that doesn’t like him can give without resorting to perpetuating this BS.
It also does seem to be a problem that the mainstream media seeks to conflate this story with the Great Clenis Hunt of the ’90′s. Maybe in order to get some to focus on that aspect of the issue and thus trivialize the larger wrongdoing here – that mccain was being influenced by this lobbyist into exerting undue and improper pressure into issues his committee was debating, and further to influence them in favor of this lobbyist and her clients. Which is why it should be much more of a concern to be looking into the things he did while allegedly being unduly and inappropriately influenced by this lobbyist.
Sorry if the wording is not as clear as it could be – I was trying to eliminate the framing of the issue that the MSM would prefer everyone to use, and putting the story in terms that emphasize what I see to be the real problem here. I could care less about what mcclueless is doing behind closed doors. I am somewhat concerned that he has a history of letting these type of people influence him inappropriately and no indication that he has learned from his own personal experiences.
In the WP article, you get a good idea of the perverse world that Rethuglicans live in. McCain’s lawyer explains how a lie is not a lie.
“But Paxson said yesterday, “I remember going there to meet with him.” He recalled that he told McCain: “You’re head of the Commerce Committee. The FCC is not doing its job. I would love for you to write a letter.”
McCain attorney Robert S. Bennett played down the contradiction between the campaign’s written answer and Paxson’s recollection.
“We understood that he [McCain] did not speak directly with him [Paxson]. Now it appears he did speak to him. What is the difference?” Bennett said. “McCain has never denied that Paxson asked for assistance from his office. It doesn’t seem relevant whether the request got to him through Paxson or the staff. His letters to the FCC concerning the matter urged the commission to make up its mind. He did not ask the FCC to approve or deny the application. It’s not that big a deal.”
The Paxson deal, coming as McCain made his first run for the presidency, has posed a persistent problem for the senator. The deal raised embarrassing questions about his dealings with lobbyists at a time when he had assumed the role of an ethics champion and opponent of the influence of lobbyists.
The two letters he wrote to the FCC in 1999 while he was chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee produced a rash of criticism and a written rebuke from the then-FCC chairman, who called McCain’s intervention “highly unusual.” McCain had repeatedly used Paxson’s corporate jet for his campaign and accepted campaign contributions from the broadcaster and his law firm. “
So we lied. What’s the difference? Who cares?